Characteristic
by Alice Shade
Summary: Timelines upon timelines upon timelines. One of those is about to end pitifully. And Chara is there to pilfer what she needs to put an end to this madness of reset cycles, once and for all. Killing everyone didn't work. Frisk's ideas were pretty close to winning this, though. Something to consider. (Chara/Frisk girl/girl weirdness)
1. Chapter 0 The End of Timeline

Chapter 0. The End of Timeline.

\- so. this happened. i`d say it was humerus end for her. you, however. you`re new thing happening. explain, quickly. before i decide to bone everything up again.  
\- Well. All this timeline fudging. Did you ever wonder what happens to timeline you reset? You go back to the anchor point, but the rest of world? Does it reset? Does it go on? Ever wondered about that?  
\- not particularly, no. you could say i`ve only bothered with the bare bones stuff.  
\- Well. OK, so here`s how it goes. Basically, there`s more the one timeline going on. There`s ton of them running simultaneously. Each time you make a decision, you split the timeline. Reset, uh... Reset sort of curls the timeline on itself and pulls on the knot until it smoothes itself out. Not the best explanation, but trying to be more precise about this makes my head hurt.  
\- yes, the timey-wimey stuff is a real skullcracker to grok. s`why i never bothered.  
\- The thing is, each time reset happens, it introduces additional wobbly. Originally, the anchor point was Frisk landing next to Flowey back in the cave, getting possessed by me, menaced by Flowey and adopted by Toriel. Next, the whole ruddy thing blooms into a filthy broom of itty-bitty possibilities. Sometimes Frisk doesn`t give a darn about me and goes on to befriend everyone. Sometimes, Frisk kills a bunch of monsters, but overall doesn`t go out of her way to cause trouble. That ends less saccarine, but also reasonably good. Well, except for those she kills and their folks, anyway. Finally, there`s lines where she listens early and often, murders the crap out of Underground and usually either ends up getting dunked on here and now, or successfully stabs you and goes on to end the world. Somehow.  
\- i noticed. what was that about wobbly bit?  
\- Well, as the resets massed up, the distortion started inching up the chronoline past the anchor point and introducing permutations into additional setting. That`s where I come from. Unlike the primary version of me, I`m not actually axe-crazy. The Chara in this timeline is another aberration - the only one she wants to kill is herself. Which she can only pull off if she snags herself a body. Which, well, just happened.  
\- huh. i wondered what made the kid drop dead like this. doesn`t explain why she went on the murder spree, though.  
\- Another wobbly. In this particular timeline, it`s Frisk`s who`s axe-crazy killer.  
\- tibia honest, i don`t give a damn. let`s get on with dunking, aight?  
\- You`d attack someone who didn`t do a single bad thing to anyone, Sans? There`s a reason why I went to this timeline, you know.  
\- went into timeline? what are you on about?  
\- You didn`t honestly expect there to be two of me running around, did you? Even if one was hopelessly suicidal. No, I`m from another timeline. In that one, I`m good and Frisk is good, everyone gets befriended, including Flowey and I get to live for like a century past the barrier breech. The problem is, Frisk, being the self-sacrificing noble fool she usually is, put half of her soul through the barrier to bring it down. And since she gave other half to me... yeah, well, I got her body to live in. And I DO NOT LIKE IT.  
\- what, it`s not tailored to your size, heh?  
\- More of, I actually want everyone to survive. As in, everyone without exclusion. So, for most part of my life, I studied the same stuff you did. Gaster`s notes, Alphys` notes, the core, your own notes even, what little you ever bothered to scribble down. Figured out some interesting things, by the way. For example, I can now give Alphys a good way to split up the amalgamations and even recover the determination from them. Took all that, the stocks and a bunch of it drained from me for like fifty years to make the trip here.  
\- ...ok, i`ll bite. what is that you want in this timeline, then?  
\- Frisk`s body over there.  
\- whyever for?  
\- Well, the idea is that I`ll grab it and push the reset. And when the world crashes back to anchor point, Frisk is going to meet me already well-bodied. Thus, stopping this silly outcome that I got in the last iteration.  
\- and what of me?  
\- Well, for you, it will be just another reset. You`ll keep the memories, like you always do, if you`re asking about this.  
\- uh-huh. sure. what the hell. i`m game. ought to be different, at least.  
\- Mhm. Just so we`re clear - I`m not all sunshine and rainbows. Merely... rational. It`s highly likely I`ll still end up sharing soul with Frisk, because we will need something to breach the barrier, but since I`m already going to bring one along with me...  
\- wait a moment. how`d you live soulless in previous timeline?  
\- Not soulless. Just a half of it. Turns out with Frisk`s determination levels, half is sufficient to breach barrier. Can`t say it was all nice, but half is better then nothing, yes? The way I figure it, if I bring this soul back, we`d have two in reserve. Half for me, half for Frisk, half for breaking the barrier... and if it works out, half to get Flowey back to being Asriel.  
\- well, kiddo, you certainly plan big. let`s do it.


	2. Chapter 1 Ruins

Chapter 1. Ruins.

Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow. That was a rough tumble. Bad enough to make her black out for a while. She wiggled around, groaning. Someone put a hand on her shoulder. "Shh. Calm down, partner, you`re going to be just fine." - something about that voice disturbed Frisk. Something... something familiar. Still, whoever they were, they were obviously not hostile. At least, right now. Something soft and wet dragged over Frisk`s face, making her finally open her eyes.

"...CHARA?! What... why, no stop!" - she shrieked, frantically backpedaling from the other girl. Chara frowned, dirty rag still in her hand as she sat back on her heels. Was she.. wiping the dirt from Frisk`s face? Strange. How, even? Wasn`t Chara supposed to be a disembodied spirit?

"Calm down, alright?" - Chara ventured casually, folding her hands on her lap, fingers fiddling with the rag - "I`ve also been through resets, just like you. I know that killing everyone doesn`t work. I`d like to try it your way this time."

"...What?" - that was probably one of the least likely things Frisk expected to hear. Chara sighed and winked at her. It looked... weird. "Look. I have a plan." - she proffered finally - "A plan to finally move on from this damn cycle. And, even better, that plan doesn`t involve killing anyone."

"What are you talking about?! Why do I know your name? What`s going on!" - other girl wailed, clutching her knees as she tried to roll into a ball. Chara frowned. "Huh. Yeah, well... you will probably remember more later." - she proffered uncertaunly - "Look, I`ll try to explain what I know, but I`m in the same boat as you - making it up as we go. Your name is Frisk, you remember that much, right?"

Other girl cautiously nodded, - "...Yeah. Were we, uh... introduced before?" Chara shook her head, and stood up, swinging backpack off her back and rifling through it. "OK, yeah. First of all, you need this." - she proffered as she gave Frisk a bottle of water - "Drink some, and uh... stretch your leg, please? You got a nasty gash on your knee from the fall, and I`d like to patch you up a little before we go anywhere with this."

Frisk sniffed, but gradually uncurled, accepting the bottle and gingerly extending her leg. She, indeed, had a bleeding gash just under the knee, and on seeing it, the pain hit her full force, making her whimper and turn her face away from the wound. Chara simply clucked her tongue as she pulled out a clean rag and a length of bandage and set to work cleaning off and bandaging. "It`ll do for a while, but we should get some proper attention later. Wouldn`t want the bloody mess to get inflamed, right?" - she quipped, eliciting another whimper from Frisk.

It took half an hour for the other girl to get confident enough to stand up and move. It really helped that Chara found her a good sturdy stick to lean on as she walked - the leg still stung pretty bad. "Do you know how to get out of here?" - she asked tremulously, returning the half-empty water bottle back to Chara, who stashed it into her backpack.

"That`s... uh, complicated. I know where to go to get some help, but getting you out of here entirely? That`s going to take a while." - she finally answered, pointing upwards. The hole in the cavern`s ceiling didn`t look accessible. "No way to climb there, see? There is another way out of here, but it`s good ways off, and we`d be better off if we meet the people living here first and get them to help us. I`ve been here a while, and I know a thing or two about the place. We`re in the ruins, mind. Kinda abandoned place. Except for Toriel, I suppose, so our first point of concern is to find her."

"Ah. Um. So... who is this Toriel?" - Frisk ventured softly, as she limped next to her unexpected companion. Chara giggled. "Ah, she`s our goatmom." - she tossed back carelessly, as she veered towards the opening in the cavern`s wall - "Come on here, that`s the way into ruins proper."

"A... uh... goatmom?" - other girl wondered faintly, her memory floating up some vague recollection. Someone... kind. Caring. And pretty fierce, if she thought children were about to be hurt. Definitely mom.

Chara suddenly paused, and whirled around to face Frisk. "Goodness gracious, I almost forgot to remind you." - she said seriously - "Around here? You and me are the only humans. Well, only alive humans. There were a few more, but..." She left the rest of sentence hanging ominously - "The thing is, the rest of people down here are monsters. They`re, uh... varied. There`s talking dogs, there`s talking skeletons, there`s people made out of fire, there`s a grumpy merfishmaid and a shy dinosaur scientist and I`m not even sure who else. Regardless of who they are, Frisk? Do NOT attack them. I can`t stress that bad enough. They might get silly, exasperating, annoying, frustrating or just plain menacing, but not a single one of them would actually fight you to the death. Not unless you force them to. If you`re unsure, I`m here to help, and I`ll be sticking around, so consider your back watched. Still, it would be good if you practiced to deal with them. Use psychological warfare, so to speak... I`m telling you this because we`re about to run into a particularly vicious flower, and it`s best if you don`t whack him with a stick, aight? We`ll need him later on."

Surprised, and very befuddled, Frisk nodded and frowned. Chara`s words have had been triggering some vague recollections in her mind. Most of them too garbled to actually think much about them, but that mention of flower?... Frisk had an uneasy feeling about it. "...Flowey? Is his name Flowey?" - she ventured softly. That name filled her with trepidation and pity in almost equal measures, though she had no idea why.

"Got it in one, partner." - Chara nodded with a smile - "We can`t properly help him right now, but later on? We`re totally going to. We`re going to help everyone down here." She turned around and marched on, leaving Frisk to catch up. Helping everyone? That... was pretty good. In theory, at least. Frisk was still in the dark about details, but so long as helping everyone meant what it sounded like, she was on board with that.

As they walked into the smaller cavern, her memory served up yet another snippet. The demented grin... She shivered, and peered ahead. Flowey was... bad. Not bad as in evil, but more like... bad. Wrong. Still, if Chara knew how to fix him... Frisk was very unsure. Her hazy memory insisted that something was equally wrong with Chara too. Even more so, maybe. Yet, right now? The Chara she was with didn`t quite trigger her as her memories suggested she should`ve. Maybe something fundamental changed. Something that would allow to break this cycle of endless deja vues.

"Howdy! I`m Flo... What the hell." - the greeting was definitely new. Frisk ambled closer, keeping a wary look at the animated flower who expressed all manners of surprise, befuddlement and worry. "Chara. What is going on? How... why... WHAT!?" - flower stammered, switching his eyes from one girl to another. Chara crouched next to the flower, and extended hand towards him, making him pull back cautiously.

"Hey, Az." - she muttered - "Calm down, I`ve got a plan for all of us." Flower`s expressions continued shifting, from suspicion to wariness to anger to despondence to even vague sense of hope at one point. "I know you`ve got your own ideas." - she continued, quietly - "But we`ve already been through this, didn`t we? If you get your way, Sans comes around to kick the pot over and we all have to start over. I`m mighty sick of it, to be honest. So... I`ve thought up a plan B."

"...Let me guess, the plan B involves that idiot over there?" - plant snapped back irritably - "You know damn well that her way changes nothing. In the end, everything gets reset again and again and again. Don`t you want to just... end it!?"

Chara sighed. "Seen what happens when that comes through. Just another reset." - she commiserated - "Bad one, wipes all memories. No, the only way to move forward is to get the barrier down without any sacrifices. Then no one has reasons to reset." She raised her hand, forestalling further objection from Flowey - "Yes, you too. Notice how I`m tangible and everything? Got that out of last timeline. It was too little too late back then, but in this one? Az, you get to come back too. Like with everything. Alphys was onto something, but she didn`t have one last piece of puzzle... and I`ve got it right here, with me." She leaned over the flower and pulled up her sweater, making Frisk blush and look away. She totally didn`t expect sudden flashings, that`s for sure.

Still whatever it was Chara shown to Flowey, it turned his mood around pretty radically. "...Yyeah, that`s a gamechanger." - he agreed petulantly - "Fine, fine. I don`t want to deal with smelly trashbag again, so let`s try your, uh... Plan B. What do I do?"

Chara lowered her sweater and chuckled - "Well, if you want to come with, I`ve got place in my backpack. If sunny dispositions and magic of friendship is too much for you right now, mosey on quietly to the barrier and wait for us there. Need to assemble bunch of people and stuff to get this done, but once there... You get the drift, don`t you?"

Flowey made a disgusted face and pulled away. "Yeah, no. I`ll see you there." - he groused - "I`d wish you good luck, but I`ve seen enough of your plan Bs not to hold my breath. Oh well, whatever. I`ll just do my thing when this falls through." And with that, cantankerous flower dove underground and disappeared among the rustling of yellow petals.

Still blushing, Frisk wondered - "Isn`t this where we`re supposed to meet Toriel?" Chara shrugged. "Normally, yes, but normally, you don`t have anyone waiting for you at the cave to wake you up and bandage you up, so she won`t be passing through here for a few more hours. Not sure where she is, but I`m guessing we`ll run into her on the way to her place." - she retorted, as she stood up and offered her hand to Frisk - "Come on now, let`s not keep her waiting."

Taking Chara`s hand was... an experience. Not sure why, even, but that simple touch felt as jolting as the electric shock. Chara probably felt something too, given how her usual blush darkened. "...Were we, uh... close, before?" - Frisk ventured after a few minutes, mulling over the situation at hand.

"Depends on how you look at it." - Chara replied thoughtfully, picking a way ahead - "You see, I`m usually not in possession of my own body..." She almost visibly stumbled over her words, and sighed - "Frisk? I have to ask you something. There`s a lot of stuff going on, and some of it is pretty disturbing. For example, the question of how I got the body to use. I promise to explain everything, but let me do it at my own pace, please. The last thing I want is for you to panic because I said something you don`t remember the context for."

"That`s my body you`ve got, right?" - the question made Chara stop cold and turn around, biting her lip. "...How`d you figure that?" - she finally asked, huskily. Frisk shrugged - "Memories are coming back, you know. I`m still hazy on a lot of details, but I do remember about resets and how you`re usually are, now. Did I... die in the last timeline?"

Chara leaned back against the wall with a thunk, her hand rubbing her forehead irritably as she tried to formulate the reponse. "...Yes. No. Sort of." - she finally managed - "You did something... foolhardy. I`ll grant you it was done with best intentions, but you ended up knocking yourself out of your own body... You self-sacrificing fool." Frisk`s brows risen sharply at that. "...Wow. I think I meant a whole lot to you." - she quipped as she stepped up closer to give Chara an awkward hug - "Given you`ve came back for me and everything."

Chara stiffened at first, but then relaxed, letting out a deep sigh. "Given how you`re usually are, it`s... hard not to." - she finally admitted, putting her arms awkwardly around Frisk and patting her back - "I`m not letting you go this time, you hear?"

She pushed Frisk away lightly and pulled herself from the wall, stretching out. "C`mon." - she proffered - "The sooner we get to Toriel`s place, the better. There`s a lot we need to do, and many people to befriend." Just as Frisk was about to answer, she almost stumbled over a frog. Or, more precisely, froggit. Chara turned around half-way, feeling the jerk as Frisk stopped suddenly. "...Wha, oh... those guys." - she quipped - "Check them out, they`re pretty cute in an amphibian sort of way, ne?"

Frog blushed faintly and shuffled his feet on the ground, finally disappearing into the underbrush with a muffled "Thank you, ribbit.", leaving a gold coin behind. "Huh. That was even easier then I remember." - Frisk mentioned finally, as she plucked the coin from the ground to look at it - "Did you ever figure if this is a real gold or just something, uh... monster-specific?" She turned the coin around and handed it to Chara, smiling distantly as her own memories of charming all kinds of monsters flooded in, still hazy but with clear feeling underneath it. Frisk loved those little games, getting everyone around feeling flustered, bedazzled, confused and, most importantly - happy.

Chara made a movement to put the coin away, then stopped, puzzled. "...Frisk, check your stats, please." - she muttered distractedly, seemingly preoccupied with looking at her own. A little alarmed, other girl concentrated briefly, making herself think of her own statistics. Their eyes snapped open in the same time, meeting each other`s gaze with incredulousness.

"I`m fort Knox?" "I have LV 20?" OOkay, Chara`s statement instantly killed any concerns Frisk had with her own stats, replaced by gnawing worry and fear as she took a step back. Chara groaned. "I can`t believe it!" - she grunted angrily, clutching her fists - "How do I even GET LV 20 without any EXP!? How does that even... what I... Just... WHAT!"

"You don`t have EXP?" - inquired her counterpart, scratching the back of her head as she struggled to recall all that Sans explained about stats so long ago - "That doesn`t make any sense. How can you..." And then, she recalled the exact words. '...it stands for "level of violence". a way of measuring someone`s capacity to hurt. the more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. the more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. the more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others...'

"Chara, I think I got it." - she proffered slowly - "LV doesn`t mean how many people you killed. It means how easy it is for you to kill without feeling anything about it. You don`t necessarily need to have EXP yourself to gain LV, all you need to do is to grow numb to things."

Other girl sat down on the leaves heavily, holding her head. "Great. Just... great." - she mumbled through her hands - "Not even out of ruins, and I`m already screwed..." Frisk sat next to her gingerly, and put an arm around her shoulders. "It`s not so bad, Chara." - she offered after a while - "I`m surprised I don`t have any, actually. After everything I`ve seen... Maybe that`s why my memories always come back so hazy."

Chara`s hand rubbed her forehead tiredly. "It`s still extremely worrying." - she finally managed - "I`m essentially bogeyman to all those monsters out there. Good grief, I`m surprised that Froggit didn`t keel over from my sheer presence." Her counterpart patted Chara`s back - "You`re overthinking this. Monsters react to EXP, not to LV. Simply because the more EXP you get, the more you smell of monster dust, and when you smell of death, everyone falls over themselves to get out of your way. Your LV is your internal, uh... internal, internal... Inner give-a-damn-mometer! The thingy that tells you how bad things need to get to make you unglue. So it`s actually a good thing you have high LV, it means you`ll be able to deal with situations that panic everyone else. I mean, just because you won`t feel much about killing someone doesn`t mean you WILL do it, right?"

"Heh. Heheheh... Yeah, I.. I suppose." - Chara managed finally, leaning closer to Frisk and resting head on her shoulder - "Of course, it doesn`t mean I won`t come unglued after a situation, ne? At least I`ve got you to put me back together." She let out a tired sigh and, reluctantly, stood up. "Let`s go. I haven`t cried in untold ages, so if I start, it`s going to be a long affair. I`d rather not do it in the middle of the ruins." - she quipped lightly, blinking against the light a few times as she turned towards the road ahead, - "What you were saying about fort Knox, by the way?"

Frisk blinked. "Oh. Right. Apparently, I have so much gold I literally don`t know the name of number." - she proffered - "How does that even work, and why do I have so much?" Chara snickered - "That`s because it`s not gold. G is goodwill. It materializes like gold coins. Not sure if they stay as they are up top. I`m pretty sure liquid determination can`t exist outside of Underground, so this might be something similar. Still, it`s pretty good. I do have a good piggybank myself, but yours apparently blows mine right out of water, because I only have a little over billion. And that`s after a century-long life full of good deeds and general benevolence. I`m afraid to think how many resets you had to go through to amass that much."

"But I never had G following me around before... At least I don`t remember that happening..." - other girl muttered, - "Gah, those hazy memories are the pits. Well, well... We`ve got the moneys, then. Set for life, even, at least around here. That`s ... something, I guess."

Chara turned her head, brow quirked at Frisk - "We, partner?" Her counterpart chuckled - "We, Chara, we. You`re not getting rid of me now. But there is one last thing I wanted to ask..." She trailed off, gathering her courage, but then forged on ahead - "When I hugged you, there was this strange... Like there`s a hole in your chest, where the heart should be. What`s up with that?" Chara`s breath hitched. "...Can we PLEASE leave this conversation off until we come to Toriel`s place? Please? I`m not ready to discuss that." - she asked. Frisk gave her a worried look, but then nodded - "I`ll hold you to that. Oh, the puzzles! I hated the ones that make you fall."

Between the two of them, negotiating the puzzles was almost laughably easy. Especially since they could pull off some interesting teamwork in places. Like lifting the talkative stone and placing it exactly on the triggerplate, then asking politely to stay where it was. Chara graciously volunteered for all the puzzles involving jumping down into pits, citing Frisk`s wounded knee. Privately, Frisk suspected that Chara was afraid of sudden chest hole conversation continuation. Silly girl.

Half an hour later, they were standing in front of Toriel`s house, munching on spider donuts and washing them down with spider cider. "I wonder what took her so long." - Chara wondered, peering into the door - "Or maybe you`re normally unconscious back in the cave for hours upon hours?... Huh." Just as Frisk was about to answer, the door opened.

"...Oh my goodness, children! Why, how... Oh, I`m so terribly sorry, you must have fallen in at night!" - well, the first impression made, given Toriel`s excited gushing - "Come on in, come on in, you must be hungry, oh my gosh I haven`t even bought groceries yet..." Chara waved at her with half-eaten donut.

"Hey mom."

And just like that, Toriel stopped. Transfixed. "...Chara... How... Oh, my child!" - and with that, Chara found herself wrapped in tight goatmom hug. "Hnnn... Need... ribs... breathe!" - she managed a full minute after, glaring at snickering Frisk. Toriel backed off immediately, her face streaked with tears. "...I never thought you could come back to me, child." - she proffered tremulously, turning her attention at Frisk, immediately noticing high similarities between the two girls - "And what is your name, child? Are you, perhaps, Chara`s sister? Oh my gosh, this is... this is... Oh my gosh."

It took a while to shepherd the emotional goatmom back into house and settle her back in the chair. Arranging themselves next to the fireplace, both girls took turns explaining some of the pertinent facts to Toriel. The dodgier details (like genocide run resets and everything concerning Asriel) have had been omitted for now, focusing more on using determination as a way to turn back time, and on Chara`s own stubborn refusal to stay dead.

"You two say you have a plan." - Toriel commented finally - "And so far, I`m in agreement with what you propose. Your level of LV is greatly worrying, however. Chara, darling... all that happened to you. I..." Chara rose her hand to forestall the topic. "It never happened, mom. We`re not letting it happen." - she promised firmly - "But I must remember what could have been. As the fools who forget their own history are doomed to repeat it."

"And I will be with her all the way." - Frisk interjected brightly - "Maybe she has high LV, but mine is still zero. I can feel just as acutely as always, and I will keep her from making any bad mistakes. Promise." She paused, and then poked Chara`s side playfully - "Besides, from what I`ve seen so far, she isn`t as unfeeling as LV suggests." Frisk shrugged as both directed questioning stares at her - "Think about it. Chara got upset her LV is so high. Do you know what that means? She can still feel something about it. All that this number means is that Chara is inured to the idea of violence. Not that she doesn`t have common sense not to do it."

Toriel nodded thoughtfully. "...I see your point, child. I`ve read that LV can go up without gaining EXP, if one witnesses enough traumatizing events, but that doesn`t explain why your own LV is zero." Frisk shrugged - "I blame my hazy memories. Chara remembers her life before reset really well. Me, well... My memories are more like... feelings. For example, when I look at you, I have a warm "mommy" feeling, but for the love of all that is sane, I can not remember if I ever called you mom, mrs. Dreemurr or auntie Toriel."

For a few moments, Toriel was at the loss for words, but then finally managed - "Ah, well... You can call me mom, if you want to." She paused, and then continued - "Oh, what am I saying. OF course you can call me mom. After all that you and Chara were through, well. You must be as close as sisters, by now."

Chara stood up suddenly. "Oh, I just recalled something. Spider pastries are fine and all, but... you haven`t gotten groceries yet, have you?" - she quipped at Toriel, who`s expression quickly changed from surprised to chagrined. "Yeah, thought so. How about me and Frisk get the groceries? It`s getting pretty late, after all."

Toriel stood up, shaking her head - "Now, now, there`s no need to saddle you with this chore, I`ll go buy them right now..." She was cut off by Frisk and Chara grabbing her by the arms and leading her to kitchen. "...Ahahaha, alright, alright, I see your point. I`ll start the dinner now, and you two can handle the groceries, alright? On purely unrelated note, do you like butterscotch or cinnamon better?"

"Both, please!" - was the happy chorus before girls run off to get the groceries done. Following them with a gaze, Toriel sighed. Today was... terrifying. A new child falling in was a problem in itself, but two of them? One of which being her long-dead human daughter and other being her sister in all but name?... Or maybe not even sister? Try as she might, but Toriel couldn`t overlook the blush on Chara`s cheeks. The blush that would grow darker each time Chara spent some time looking at Frisk... Oh-ho-ho-ho. That promised to be... interesting. Interesting indeed. And then, that great plan of theirs... She would dismiss it as childish ramblings, but they were ridiculously well-informed about things no child should ever think about. Alphys` insane experiments, for one... For crying out loud, they saw the amalgamations up close... They FOUGHT the amalgamations! And... apparently Chara even knew how to separate them... Wow. Just... wow. And even deeper... In a far, far corner of her mind that Toriel herself didn`t dare to look in, was a tiny hope smouldering. The hope that if one child could rise from the dead, then maybe so could the other.

Meanwhile, outside the house, Frisk suddenly paused. "You know, I have this feeling that we forgot something... Or, rather, uh... Someone?" Returning Chara`s questioning glance with one of her own, she suddnely gasped. "Napstablook! Goodness, we didn`t see him at all." - she exclaimed - "Chara, we have to find him. If nothing else, he`d help us to get through to Mettaton."

Thankfully, melancholic ghost didn`t prove himself hard to locate. Between an impromptu cheering session (Involving Chara making silly faces, for some indescribable reason.) and quick run for groceries, they`ve been back with missing ingredients well before Toriel needed them. "Who would have thought there is an actual grocery shop in the ruins?" - Chara mused thoughtfully - "It almost seems like Toriel is the only person who actually bought anything there before now. Makes you wonder, ne?" Frisk nodded thoughtfully. She wouldn`t put it past Asgore to finance this ridiculous arrangement, solely so Toriel could have a readily available source of domestic necessities.

Dinner proved itself to be a merry affair. Especially so, after Toriel brought out a bar of chocolate that made Chara literally salivate at the sight of it. She knew Frisk would never let her live it down, but... Chocolate. Oh my gosh, sweet glorious chocolate. Cinnamon-butterscotch pie was also a great hit, in spite of Chara`s vegement insistence that it was actually butterscotch-cinnamon pie in disguise.

But the real surprises were in the evening. Or maybe surprises was the wrong word. Chara did promise that explanation for a while, but... Toriel was more then a little worried about bedding arrangements, but finally accepted the gentle insistencies that girls would sort out the bedding situation between themselves just fine. Well that, and a quick demonstration that the bed was wide enough for both of them, provided they agreed to be friendly. But now...

"...Alright. I promised, didn`t I?" - Chara muttered, as she sat on the edge of the bed, fingers fiddling with the edge of her sweater. With a sigh, she started pulling it up.

"...You don`t have to, you know." - Frisk remarked casually, as she sat down next to Chara, putting a hand on hers to stop her from taking the sweater off - "I can wait until you`re comfortable showing me." Chara chuckled dryly. "That would be a long wait." - she muttered, and shook her head - "No. I`m not comfortable, but I want you to know. To see. This plan of ours will not work if we`re going to play around at keeping pointless secrets from each other." She grabbed the hem of her green sweater and pulled it up over her head, tossing it off onto the toy chest. Unsurprisingly to Frisk, she had nothing on under it. Same as Frisk, really.

The heart-shaped hole in her chest was defininitely not like Frisk, of course. Nor the inverted heart shape jammed roughly into it, held in place with a few bandaids. "...That looks uncomfortable." - she commented softly, leaning closer to see the soul glowing with soft white light - "That... doesn`t look like my soul."

"That`s how yours looks if you drain if of all determination." - Chara proffered quietly - "This is not the body you left me. It, ah... aged. I wouldn`t be able to do much stuck around here as a decrepit grandma." Frisk sucked in air sharply. "...Alright. Tell me." - she demanded, eyes still glued to the soul. And so, Chara told her. About the visit to the doomed timeline. About suicidal Chara and murderous Frisk, about their end together and about body procurement. About her negotiations with Sans. Everything.

"...So the determination is gone because... we both died in that timeline?" - Frisk finally managed, pulling her eyes from the soul only to look in Chara`s own. Half-naked girl shrugged helplessly. "Yes, I guess." - she proffered - "Frisk, I swear. I had NOTHING to do with making the timeline turn like that. I just checked the splits that were likely to produce an intact body, and... Soul is a bonus loot I didn`t even count on. I didn`t even KNEW I could carry across a soul without making it mine."

"Wait, what? This soul isn`t even connected to you?... Good grief, Chara, how do you even move soulless? I remember having mine pulled out a few times, and it was the worst thing ever." - Frisk fretted, as she run her fingers gingerly over Chara`s chest, tips brushing the bandaids lightly. "Wait, no, nevermind... This soul, it`s not even a fit for your hole. How did you even... oh, Chara... Let`s get this off you. I don`t even want to think how much this must cramp."

"Are you sure? I, uh... don`t actually know much about soul containing. Asgore seemed to keep his looted ones in simple jars, but those were human souls... This one is essentially a monster soul, by now. Exceptionally powerful one, granted, but lacking any determination to hold it together. Are you sure it will keep without being, uh... there?" - she retorted sullenly - "I`d hate to need to pull two resets just to recover a copy... And I don`t even know how`d I explain it to Sans this time."

As she were speaking, Frisk`s nimble fingers peeled off bandaids one by one, making soul wobble precariously. It still held fast, though, wedged into the hole. "...Nnngh, oh gods and stars, Frisk, careful!" - Chara yelped, pulling back slightly - "It feels... weird!"

Other girl said nothing, inching closer again, her fingers grasping the soul gently, and wiggling it out of the hole gradually. She did her best to disregard the noises Chara made during the extraction, sensuous as they were. Considering the soul in her hand briefly, she walked out of the room, coming back about five minutes later with a clean jar, soul safely ensconsed inside. "I don`t think it matters if it has any determination or not." - Frisk mused pensively, as she sat the glowing jar on the table and sat next to deeply blushing Chara on the bed - "All that matters is that we`re both determined to keep it intact." She turned to the other girl, and wiggled her fingers playfully, reaching for the hole again.

"Wait, what are you even dooooooing... oh goodness gracious, Friiiiisk... Oh, oh, oooh... NNgh!" - Chara didn`t dare to move as the fingers slipped into the darkness, rubbing the bruised edges gingerly. "Oh... Oh, ok, please, enough... Stop. I`m... better." - she finally managed, biting her lip. That was not a lie, per ce - she did feel immeasurably better. It was like rubbing loose a cramp, but so so much more... inside of her. On the other hand, it felt...

"I`m such a freakshow." - she muttered ruefully, turning away from Frisk - "C`mon, let me save up at least a little bit of dignity. No need to poke at it anymore." Still dressed girl shook her head and put her hands on Chara`s shoulders, turning her to face Frisk again.

"Chara, stop. I am not bothered by your looks. Unusual holes or not." - she asserted firmly - "If anything, I think you look beautiful." And Chara promptly beat her own records at blushing. "...You`re such a flattering liar." - she whispered softly. That... Just would not do. And of course, Frisk had a plan B for that. A kiss makes every boo-boo better, no? And so, she leaned in, ignoring Chara`s breath hitching at the sudden movement, and pressed her lips against the lower peak of the hole, kissing it gently. Much to her surprise, Chara tasted like the richest chocolate she ever tried.

Sometime later, she finally came to her senses, sprawled on top of Chara, who was now crying, smiling and panting like she just run a maraphon. And spread across the bed. She must have fallen over sometime during that kiss that had turned somehow into a long and thoughtful tongue exploration of that unexpected cavity.

"Oh my Frisk... You`re such a fiend." - Chara muttered, her breath ruffling Frisk`s hair and thus prompting her to pull back. "I, uh..." - now it was Frisk`s turn to beat blushing records. Darn impulsiveness and darn the stupid sexy Chara and her stupid sexy hole! ...OK, wait, no, this thought went in a very... weird direction. They exchanged a meaningful glance, both of them well aware that Frisk would never ever get to forget about this impulsive fiasco. Never. Ever. Again.

"Sleep?" - she suggested, suddenly eager for topic change. Chara giggled. "...Mm, yes. Alright. Sleep sounds good." - she agreed, as she started shimmying out of her shorts clumsily. The return of Blush: Frisk`s Blush rides again made a triumphant return. "Uh, Chara?... Are you going to, uh... get naked?" - she quipped, intently looking anywhere but on her counterpart.

"Like... seriously?" - she didn`t even need to look to know that Chara`s brows were risen at that question - "Frisk, I just let you eat my soul out. I can`t even fathom a way to get more intimate then this. C`mon, ditch those clothes and climb on in under the blankets. We must get a good sleep tonight, Snowdin`s going to be busy tomorrow."

Still blushing hard, Frisk shedded her clothes and slipped into bed, stiffening when she felt Chara`s arms encircle her waist from behind. On one hand, the active part of her brain was firing "OMG I`m naked in bed with another girl" at all cylinders. On other, the passive part of her brain went "mmmm, cuddles" and never stopped. Her tenseness leaked out little by little, as she snuggled closer to Chara and drifted off into sleep.


	3. Chapter 2 Snowdin

Chapter 2. Snowdin.

Waking up cuddled up to someone was pretty novel experience for Frisk. Granted, over the course of resets she had her share of affection. Some of them were long enough for her to start something meaningful or at least carnal. Still, the majority of life experience was tied to being a kid, and that didn`t promote much chances at cuddling. At least, not in that way. She wiggled lightly, seeing if she could dislodge Chara`s arms from around herself. No dice, though she did manage to wake up her bedmate. Marginally. Only enough for them to grumble and pull Frisk closer. Nnngh.

"Chara?" "Mmmf." "Chara." "M`sleepin." "CHARA! I have to pee!"

Returning from the bathroom was much less urgent then departure to it. Apparently, Chara possessed keen ability to wake up only sufficiently enough to handle the current crisis, only to conk back out as soon as possible. She briefly wondered if Chara picked up that habit from Sans, before sitting down on the bed and shaking other girl gently. "C`mon, up and at them." - she cajoled, without much success. Sighing, Frisk resorted to drastic measures. Namely, tickling. Soon enough, Chara was wide awake and squealing into the pillow as Frisk tickled her sides expertly.

"AhahahahahahAAHAA, NO stop!" - the sleepier one finally managed, rolling over abruptly to try and fight off the tickling. A very unfortunate decision, as it exposed her warm and tender belly for much more tickling. The fun has been doubled, at least for Frisk, who found great delight in exploring just how ticklish and sensitive other girl was. As for Chara, well... she`d need to be consulted again when she`s not laughing so much.

"...OK, ok... Enough. I, ah, huff... I`m wide awake." - Chara wheesed finally, as the tickles have had died down. She did manage to get through a few sneak attacks, but with other girl already being dressed and alert, it`s been a losing fight from the beginning to an end. She sat up, pulling up the blanket to her lap, as she started thinking over things. "Frisk, what time is it?" - she quipped, shuffling off the bed to make use of bathroom as well. She heard "Half to eight in the morning." behind her back, making her grumble slightly about counterparts being unnaturally bright-eyed and bushytailed in the morning.

Neither girl was surprised to see Toriel already out and about, puttering around at the kitchen. "Up already, children?" - she inquired - "Well, come on, breakfast is about ready." Frisk paused in the door, transfixed by sudden horrible thought. "...Not snails, I hope?" - she quipped warily, eyeing the neat pile of discarded shells in the trash bin. Toriel`s expression wavered before she replied - "Ahaha, no, no, why would you even think that?"

"Snails aren`t so bad, actually." - Chara quipped from behind, making other girl cringe, - "Especially if you leave them to marinade overnight in butter cup and then roast over lightly." A silent exchange of glances between the three conversationalists have had put forth an agreement to never ever revisit this topic again. Frisk, for her part, added a resolution to refer to snails as clams from now on. For the stability of her stomach, if nothing else.

"So..." - Toriel began once they all settled down at the table - "You did tell about the plan yesterday, but not the details. What is the first item on the agenda? Oh, and..." She stood up to get two phones off the shelf and gave them to Frisk and Chara - "Here. I have a feeling we`d need to have a way to talk to each other quickly during all this. I`ve also, ahem... took measures to safeguard my own phone." She nodded at the bloated annoying dog in the corner, happily comatose after a bucketful of choice bones.

Chara drummed her fingers on the table, as she got her thoughts in order. "Well... first of all, we`re going to Snowdin. Regardless of anything else, we need Sans in on this with us, or we`re not going to make it happen. And Sans is a package deal with Papyrus, so... ugh. We`ve gotta befriend a hyperactive skeleton to get his slacker brother on board." - she admitted unhappily - "Frisk, I`m afraid you`ll have to take the lead here. Sans alone I can handle, but Papyrus, just... ugh, no."

Toriel blinked. "Goodness gracious, you make it sound like the Papyrus is the rudest monster ever." - she quipped - "And here I thought that title have had been sewn up by Jerry." "Ugh. Jerry." - chorused all three in unison. Frisk giggled lightly, as she replied - "No, the problem is actually quite the opposite. Papyrus is... overly enthusiastic. As Sans would say, he excels at finding difficulty in unusual places. Don`t worry, though. I have a plan."

"You`re going to take him out on a date again, don`t you?" - Chara quipped lightly. Try as she might, she failed to conseal the... lack of enthusiasm about this. Both Toriel and Frisk took notice and made their own conclusions.

"No, actually." - the reply was unexpected to say the least, but Frisk wasn`t done yet - "The date, as you put it, is a train wreck of Papyrus failing to grasp the obvious and jumping to conclusions. It`s arduous even for me to get through. I imagine you`d snap and start stabbing him like three minutes into it. No, I`m planning to subvert this entirely. Behold my plan! RAMEN!"

Chara blinked. "...Ramen? Seriously?" - she inquired incredulously - "I know it`s, technically, a kind of pasta, but I have my doubts that Papyrus is going to be distracted with a bowl of unusual pasta forever... But then again, it`s Papyrus, he just might." Frisk snorted. "No, that`d be ridiculous." - she agreed - "Even for Papyrus. No, my plan is to give him the recipe for Ramen and all it`s variations and challenge him to master the oriental spaghetti, since he`s obviously a master of classic spaghetti already. I imagine that would tie him up in the kitchen for a good few days, at least."

Other girl stared at her with an odd mix of awe and disturbance. "...That`s devious. Appeal to his vain self-confidence with flattery, then present him with a challenge he will have no hopes of ever rejecting - and gaining his gratitude for giving him that chance to expand his horisons..." - she summarized - "Frisk, why haven`t you ever taken control of Underground with your honeyed words?"

"Teee-hee... What makes you think I didn`t?" - Frisk retorted coyly - "There were some timelines when that`s exactly what I ended up doing. Admittedly, that`s usually the timelines when Asgore is... uh, more unhinged." At Toriel`s quirking brow, she clarified - "Sometimes, a timeline pops up where Asgore goes off the deep end and ends up assuming that all the humans that ever fell in were spies sent here to destabilize and ruin the monsters further." She winced - "You`re usually either imprisoned or executed in those timelines, and the big thing becomes uniting the monsters to overthrow mad king Asgore."

A silence settled over the table. Toriel appeared at least partially disturbed by the revelation, Frisk was pensively rifling through her memories, and Chara was trying to figure out why didn`t she ever run into such a timeline. "Well, this is neither here, nor now." - she finally proffered - "And if we succeed, it will never happen. Snowdin first, then we hit the Waterfalls and get some traction with Undyne. She`s going to be a tough nut to crack, but at least I`m not going to be utterly useless around her. Alphys, though... Frisk, what do you think? I can get Alphys to side with us come hell or high water simply by telling her how to reverse her experiments. But if I do, she will run off to get it done, and without her it`s going to be hell of a time getting Undyne on board. We`d have to rely on Papyrus again."

Frisk shrugged. "That`s one option, yes. I`m thinking that maybe Amalgamates can wait a bit, though." - she proffered - "It would be much easier to sort them out once we`ve broken the barrier and got everyone on our side, you know." Chara sighed and frowned - "Not an option, sorry. If we want to breach barrier without sacrificing anyone for their soul, we need all Amalgamates separated and determination recovered. What Alphys has left in the lab is not going to be enough. I`ve had enough time to run the maths in previous timeline - if we get all the leftover stock, get all we can from Amalgamation fission and direct all of the core power, that ought to be just enough to get things done. And before you ask - yes, we can supplement from our own determination, and likely will have to, but even between both of us, we need every last drop, lest someone ends up dropping dead in the end of it. So... Alphys has to be informed and set to work on it before the breach, but maybe we should left this till the end."

Toriel interjected - "Wait a moment, children. What`s that you`re talking about? I thought you had a way to breach the barrier?" Chara nodded - "That`s part of it, yes. Asgore has six souls in containment, Frisk has seventh, but... She can not adsorb the other six to gain the necessary power. Doing it Asgore`s way means Frisk has, at least temporarily, let go of her soul, and that is exceedingly dangerous. Monster empowered by one human soul is a problem. One empowered by seven at once? Yeah, well. I really, really, really don`t want to risk it. So far, only Frisk was able to talk down someone powered up by six, and if she`s unconscious or dead? We`re going to be screwed in the worst way possible. So, we`re going to use an alternate way. A ridiculous amount of determination and core power to stand in for the seventh soul, more or less. Gaster designed core for that, but he had not finished the job, and Alphys have had been misled into thinking core was meant for empowering monsters, not to stand in for them."

"Gaster... Why does this name seem familiar?" - Toriel wondered, scrunching her eyes as she racked her memory to recall - "Who is he?" Chara sighed - "W. . The guy who was royal scientist before Alphys. He devised a way to breach the core, but ended up, uh... Ok, so. Core is serious quantum physics. I`m not sure I can explain this in layman terms clear enough. It basically works on quantum probability, allowing something to simultaneously exist and not exist in any single point of timespace continuum. Gaster screwed up during the testing and ended up fudging his own probability to permanently be "maybe not". As such, it`s hard to even remember about him, unless you`re out of sync with local timespace anyways. You`re probably going to forget as soon as I stop reminding you of him."

"Never you mind that, child." - apparently, there was something else on Toriel`s mind - "What was that about Frisk and souls? I was under impression that between you and her, there`s eight?" Girls exchanged uneasy glances. That would be a pickle to explain.

"I am... somewhat of a special case, mom." - Chara ventured slowly - "With me having been dead and all. Suffice to say that me trying to merge with any souls whatsoever won`t end well. If I stop being determined to continue living, I`ll drop dead again, simple as that." She sent Frisk a warning glare, sending 'Don`t even THINK to tell her I`m soulless.' perfectly clear without having said a simple word.

"Oh child..." And then Chara was glomped by a comforting goatmom hug. She waited for a few moments, then gently but insistently freed herself from the embrace. "I am what I am." - she stated a bit more forcefully then she meant to - "And I always find a way."

Getting together the necessary supplies for a visit to Snowdin proved to be easy, although Toriel did insist on additional clothes after learning about climate conditions at the top. Somewhat harder, however, was actually leaving.

"...I`m worried." - she fretted, as she escorted children to the way out - "Are you sure you can handle all this? Maybe I should come with you." Frisk patted her hand gently. "There`s no reason for you to." - she proffered rationally - "We`re going out to befriend everyone. If anything, your early appearance will cause undue disturbance, because it`s a common knowledge you`re guarding the ruins. We don`t need someone giving in to panic and running off half-cocked to inform Undyne and Asgore that there`s a human invasion going on here, right?" Chara cut in confidently - "And if it comes to worst, we`re both pretty good at handling violent confrontations. Hell, if you want to, we can spar with you and prove that we`ve got what it takes to survive."

Toriel blinked. "You know? I think I just might." - she mused, as she put her hand up, a fireball forming in it... And blinked again, as it was swatted out of her hand immediately. "You might want to rethink that." - Chara hissed into her ear from behind. How did she... what was... Was that a KNIFE at her throat? Toriel swallowed noisily.

"As you can see, mom, we know how to handle things." - Frisk offered from the front - "Wouldn`t you rather be friends with us, mm?" Goatmom nodded spastically, rubbing her throat where the coolness of blade lingered. "...Yah. Yes. Alright. You`re clearly more then capable of handling things." - she proffered, her voice a bit higher then usual - "And scaring me witless, apparently."

As the doors opened, Chara paused. "You know what? That was pretty fun." - she quipped - "Let`s see if we can pull fast one on Sans?" Other girl quirked her brow - "You sure? He`s uh... less hesitant then goatmom to shoot for keeps." - she inquired - "...Fine, well. But if he gasterblasts you into next timeline, don`t come to me crying."

"Oh, I`m not going to make it look like I`m about to attack him, don`t worry. He`s already going to be... on edge. I imagine he had fully recovered his memories by now and is wondering just whom he`s going to encounter this time. If anyone at all." - Chara retorted - "Go on, I`ll follow behind you."

Shrugging, Frisk proceeded as asked, trudging down the snowy road dutifully. She stepped over the familiar branch and continued down the road, ears peeled for the tell-tale crunch of Sans landing on it. She was not disappointed in her expectations. As she bridge ahead loomed out of foggy air, she tensed up internally, not quite sure how the meeting with her old friend would go. On one hand, she did enjoy fairly good rapport with Sans, on other, some of the timelines had them at loggerheads.

Heavy steps behind her approached, and she slowed down before the bridge, waiting for skeleton to catch up to her. Just as the steps stilled...

"Sans. Don`t you know how to greet an old pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

Frisk whirled around and snorted at the momentary dumbfound look at his face, before Sans did the same. "well, well, well... you pulled it off." - he drawled, extending his hand. Chara shook it firmly, ignoring the whoopie cushion sound. Other girl stepped around the skeleton to stand next to Chara and received her own handshake.

"so... what`s the plan?" - he quipped - "i`ve, ah... poked around a little, and aside from your shenanigans, it does look like an original timeline. but you`re done playing by the rules, aren`tcha?" Frisk shrugged lightly. "Well, we`re going to befriend absolutely everyone to begin with." - she proffered, - "Then Chara has some interesting ideas about barrier. We`ll have to see how it all works, but it it does work out, then we would be essentially creating new anchor point there and then. No matter what and how, from then on, anyone resetting timeline would return to the moment of barrier breech, not to the moment of me falling into Underground."

Bony fingers snapped. "just like that, huh?" - he quipped - "well, it`s not like you`re lacking in determination to see it happen. i guess i`ll hang around. what about the flower, though? he`s got a bone to pick with all of Underground."

Chara snorted. "Leave him to me." - she returned nonchalantly - "If he tries something, heh... humerus? I`ll straighten him out. I wouldn`t worry too much if I were you, though. I`ve lined up one hell of a treat for him if he plays ball. And, yeah, well.. he might be a soulless jerk right now, but he`s not stupid. While there`s something there for him to gain, he`s going to toe the line."

Sans snorted - "takes one to know one, i guess. no offense." Sticking her tongue, Chara retorted - "Some taken. Besides, I`m very much soulful, thank you very much." She frowned and winced when the bony finger suddenly poked her into the chest, right above the hole under her sweater. "not just yet, you ain`t." - skeleton proffered knowingly - "better fix that soon. not many monsters care to peek at your stats, but everyone important does, and you don`t want to know what Undyne will try to do to you if she sees that LV. hell, if your EXP wasn`t a firm zero, i`d be dunking on you here and now."

He trailed off as he noticed both girls frowning at him. "Sans. LV has nothing to do with the soul." - Frisk proffered slowly - "It doesn`t matter what we do, her LV is here to stay. Same goes for flower, actually. It`s more or less a given that he has LV through the roof, and there is no magically decreasing that. Not even through the power of timeline fudging. The only thing we CAN do is to help them work through it. Just because you don`t feel much about something doesn`t mean you`re obligated to do it."

"that does not explain you or me." - Sans retorted glibly - "if your LV can go back to zero, so can hers. unless this is all just a pretense..."

Chara snorted. "Well, Frisk is just so doggedly nice that she never accrued enough bad memories to justify LV increase. When she sees bad things happening, she`s determined to make them better." - she replied, getting a bashful smile from Frisk for that compliment, - "You, however? Sans, when was the last time you checked your own stats?"

He did a doubletake. "what? you... seriously?" - he grumbled, as he concentrated on something he hasn`t been needing for years upon years upon years. "well crack my skull and call me an egg. LV 4." - he stated in incredulous disbelief, - "how does that even?... Oh."

"Yeah. You did kill a bunch of us in the past timelines, didn`t you? Just because timeline reset doesn`t mean you get to forget it." - Chara commiserated - "Since no one gave you grief about it, we figure that anyone who cares to check first looks at EXP. It is well known that traumatic experiences CAN give you LV without any EXP to go with it, after all."

"...right. moving right along. Papyrus? i doubt both of you can fit behind the conveniently shaped lamp." - skeleton inquired uncomfortably. Frisk chuckled at him. "Let it happen as it happens, Sans." - she quipped easily - "I have an idea or three to keep him well out of harm`s way."

Sans gave her an odd long look. "right. i`ll keep an eyesocket out for you both." - he finally aquesced and stepped back, leaning on the bridge railing - "never played along with both of you before, so it`ll be different if nothing else. keep the EXP zero, kids. or else."

Chara gave him a gay little fingerwave, crossing the bridge resolutely. Frisk shrugged, smiled at Sans in the "what can you do?" manner, and hurried up to catch up with her counterpart. Skeleton sighed. And disappeared.

From there, it was the short trek to the infamously conveniently shaped lamp. And Papyrus. Upon arriving, duo spotted the shorter skeleton already in attendance, but no traces of taller one, so they took places around the lamp, grinning as if they were about to be photographed. Given the rapidly approaching footsteps, their encounter was running up.

"SAAAANS! SANS! WHERE ARE YOU, SANS?!" - Papyrus appeared from around the corner at a full run, skidding on the snowy road as he barely managed not to slide into the ditch - "SANS, WHY ARE YOU NOT TENDING THE PUZZLES? HAVE YOU SPOTTED ANY HUMANS YET?"

Chara waved lightly. "Heya, sport." - she proffered nonchalantly - "Whatcha want with them humans, mm?" Frisk, from her side of the lamp, added pensively - "And what was that about the puzzles? Humans and puzzles, really? Are you, perchance, out here to capture some?"

"WHY YES INDEED! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ON THE ROYAL MISSION TO STALL, BEDAZZLE, CONFUSE AND ULTIMATELY CAPTURE HUMANS! WITH PUZZLES! HAVE YOU SEEN ANY, CHILDREN?" - Papyrus inquired imperiously. It would be more impressive if he wasn`t currently hunched over and panting after his running bout, though.

"As I said, heya." - Chara riposted nonchalantly - "Now, let`s see if your puzzles are good enough to stop two humans, shall we?" Papyrus jerked ramrod straight, impressively managing to widen his eyesockets well beyond their already impressive diameters. "GOODNESS GRACIOUS, TWO HUMANS! SANS, COME, THERE IS NOT A MOMENT TO LOSE! WE MUST REINFORCE OUR PUZZLES!" - he yelped, grabbing his shorter brother in a fireman carry and sprinting away at impressive speed. Ostensibly, towards the next puzzle. Or the first snowpile, anyway.

Exchanging bemused glances, Chara and Frisk walked over to the snowpile in question and grabbed two extended legs, yanking Papyrus out of the pile with a comical popping sound. Sans, still held in place by his brother`s overwhelming enthusiasm (and two bony arms) spat out a glob of snow, and groaned. "it`s going to be twice the everything with you two.." - he deadpanned, his eyes squinting in exasperation as Papyrus loudly proffered his exuberant thankfulness for snowpile extrication and broke off into run again. This time, thankfully, without planting himself into another pile of frozen water.

Following him along was easy enough, given the trail of bootprints left in his wake. Frisk sneezed suddenly, and rubbed her nose sheepishly. "How do you want to handle this?" - she quipped - "To be honest, I`m kind of... weary of his puzzles by now. I mean, I understand he means well and I appreciate his enthusiasm, but he`s just so... lame about it. I honestly don`t see how did he manage to keep up being so blindingly naive until now, only to improve within barely few days."

"He bothers you, doesn`t he?" - Chara quipped lightly - "The thing is, I don`t think he`s ever been seriously challenged until now. Undyne, Sans, Asgore, they all just patronize Papyrus when you think about it. Sans is, well... Sans. Undyne just doesn`t want to bother with him, as he looks like a serious piece of work. She`d change her mind, if she ever saw Papyrus dealing with actual challenge, but that`s how it usually works in your runs, no? She sees Papyrus handling the situation with you and comes to realization he actually learns best under pressure. And Asgore doesn`t want Gaster`s kids running around, because he`s a mess of guilty conscience and wrongful convictions and comes up with all manners of silliness because of it. No, all things considered, you actually were... well, will be, Papyrus` first challenge."

"Well, right now it`s more of WE will be." - Frisk retorted coyly - "So... do we breeze through his puzzles or circumvent them entirely?" Her counterpart shook her head lightly. "Neither." - she retorted - "Here`s my idea on how to get it done. Let`s work through them together so that Papyrus gets the idea that his puzzles were rendered inept because there`s two of us. If we breeze through them, he will probably try to fight us, and I`m not sure how well I can manage that. The impulse to go for the head is kinda... ingrained. And if we circumvent them entirely, he`ll probably whine to Undyne, and I`d rather NOT have her chase us through the Snowdin. Waterfall shenanigans are annoying as is, I don`t want to wreck the village dodging the overzealous fishstick as well."

She suddenly stopped and facepalmed. "Bah, I almost forgot." - Chara muttered as she stopped to open her backpack and pull out two items. Toy dagger and a ribbon. "Here, have those. I picked them up in the ruins yesterday but totally forgot about them after the stunt you pulled in the evening." Blushing, Frisk took the proffered items, tying the ribbon around her hair and tucking the dagger into the sleeve.

"Can we please NOT mention that?" - she grumbled - "I`m sorry I gave in to stupid impulse, but..." She trailed off as Chara`s finger pressed against her lips gently. "Shh. It was impulsive, I`ll give you that, and very silly thing to do." - Chara proffered, putting her hands on Frisk`s shoulders - "But I will admit that it was... uh... good for me, OK? I`m loathe to admit it, but I needed to cry, and you gave me an out to do that without stirring up old griefs. I`m... not sure just how wise it is to actually let someone stick their fingers or tongue into your soul, but if there`s anyone I`d trust enough to do that, it`s you."

The admission had both of them blushing pretty heavily and unable to look at each other directly. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Frisk broke it with a nervous giggle. "Alright. OK. No problem." - she ventured - "Let`s, uh... go. What do we do after Papyrus? He`s going to take all day." Chara frowned, musing - "I think we should stop over at Snowdin to sleep, then deal with Undyne in the morning. No doubt Papyrus will alert her as soon as he realizes he`s unable and unwilling to stop us... So let`s make sure it happens in the morning. You bamboozle Papyrus with your challenge in the evening, then we push on to Waterfall in the morning, he runs ahead to warn Undyne, and we play it by ear then. If he tells her sooner, Undyne will get into Snowdin to look for us, if he doesn`t turn up, Undyne will come to Snowdin to look for him..."

"Fair enough. Oh well, let`s go. Puzzles await!" - Frisk proffered brightly, as she turned and started marching ahead resolutely. She still had blush going on, and so did Chara, but that did not prevent her from grasping Chara`s hand as she went. A gesture that made her feel tingly inside... and she had a hunch that it was even worse for Chara. Tingly, but not unpleasant.

Coming across the box was a bit of a relief, actually. That, and a much needed distraction. Chara had dumped in all spider treats without hesitation. "No point in lugging those around for now, when there`s Nice Cream just around the corner. I`ll just grab some after to make nice with Muffet." - she quipped to bemused Frisk - "How much G did we dump on those spiders anyways?" Other girl shrugged. "Somewhere around twenty thousand." - she returned uncaringly - "To be honest, ten thousand here and there is more then enough for Muffet to get them all together safely, but I like the cafe they throw together if they have a ten thousand surplus. Nice and cosy, and Muffet makes some tea to die for."

"Fair enough. Oh, do you want the glove?" - Chara quipped, lifting it out of the box - "I think knife is more useful, personally, even if it`s a toy one." Frisk hummed. "...Say, I have an idea. Put it on." - she quipped. Her counterpart shrugged, but pulled it on her hand as requested. "OK?" - she quipped uncertainly - "Here it is. Why`d you want me to wear it, though? I much rather prefer my knife." Frisk grinned - "That`s what I want to check. Pull your knife out."

"...Huh, what do you know. Why didn`t we ever thought of that before?" - Chara quipped curiously, marveling at how well her grip was improved by the glove - "I had an idea to recover all the mementos, they`re handy to get the cooperation of lost souls, but to combine them like this?..." Frisk grinned - "Well, there we go. I think you should also take the bandanna, the revolver and the hat. It`ll round out your rough and tumble looks." Chara`s eyebrow rose steadily. "Rough and tumble, huh?" - she quipped - "Then I can`t wait to see how`s the combo of tutu and apron will look on you."

Further down the road, they had a first hiccup. Apparently, petting Doggo simultaneously had some... interesting results. Namely, lots of panting, rolling on the back and hindleg twitching. And, of course, Frisk couldn`t resist petting the belly. "Seriously? Frisk, that`s kinda overkill. I`m half-way worried you left him catatonic."

"Nah, short attention spans. Now if we brought bones, that`d be overkill." - she tossed back carelessly - "Wait, wait, a little detour here." Chara paused, blinking and shaking her head when Frisk came back with a piece of snowman. "Seriously?" - she muttered, shuffling some of the things in her backpack to free up some space for the newest acquisition. "Well, he does want to go far. I took him beyond barrier a couple times, it was hilarious and touching." - her counterpart replied - "OK, so now the annoying part begins. Ice puzzles, bah."

"Chin up, partner. There`s two of us, and I`ve packed some rope. We`ll just tie ourselves together and watch out for one another." - Chara muttered, gazing down the road - "Remind me, does Papyrus show up at the first one?" Frisk shook her head slightly - "If I remember it right, he actually runs all the way past the dog guard and his first obstacle is a frozen spaghetti plate..."

True to the prediction, they`ve been able to stock up on Nice Cream (much to incredulous elation of vendor, who definitely didn`t expect two humans to buy out his whole stock and immediately set to devouring it) and stuff some snowballs into the curious pit in the ground without much ado. "You know, this is much easier when there`s two of us." - Frisk commented thoughtfully, as she collected the flag - "Right, more doggy encounters head."

Chara cocked her head. "The amorous pair? So how`d you dealt with them?" - she quipped - "I remember being annoyed with them on my runs. Taking on two axes with just a dagger is... finicky." Frisk quirked a brow at her - "Dogs, Chara. Dogs. All the dog monsters share same fundamental weaknesses. If you don`t alarm them with unusual smells or movements, they`re going to be unsure just what they`re seeing right until you pet them. And then you`ve already won. Well, uh... the big one will also require throwing a stick a few times before he`s sufficiently tired to be pet, but other then that, yah... I`m just glad we haven`t run into Jerry."

Chara snorted - "Well, uh, actually?... I kinda did a few minutes ago. Showed up along with Snowdrake and Ice Cap while you were checking the booths. I`ve rolled the snowball into him and listened to Snowdrake`s lame jokes behind the tree until all of them sodded off. It`s amazing just how better anyone else seems to you when the alternative is Jerry."

"So.. Did we just roll Jerry into that pit?" - other girl inquired incredulously - "I was wondering why the flag seemed bigger then usual." Chara shrugged dismissively. "I dunno. Maybe?" - she proffered uncertainly - "I`m pretty sure I don`t want to go back and check. Do you?" Frisk responded by dropping down and rolling in snow.

"...Uh. What are you doing?" - Chara inquired in bewilderment. "Smells, remember? You also need to roll, that way dogs will assume we`re just puppies and we can pet them into submission with impunity." - Frisk explained, standing up and brushing excess snow from her sweater - "C`mon. I know it`s a silly thing to do, but it works." With a sigh, Chara passed backpack over to Frisk and dropped down to roll as well.

"This is stupid." - she grumbled five minutes later, leaving behind the dogs locked in a fit of mutual petting - "...You know why it took me so long to come around? Your average monster is... argh. They`re... so simple. It drives me on the wall. How the simplest thing is a divine revelation to them. And those... obstacles. OK, I can understand Sans putting the word puzzle there, he doesn`t think it would catch us and only put that there to placate Papyrus... But spaghetti. Like, seriously? By all accounts, the six between us weren`t stupid. How does Papyrus STILL think we`re simple enough to be stalled by a plate of food, of all things?!"

"Come on, Chara." - Frisk objected - "So they`re naive, is that such a bad thing?" Chara grumbled. "It sort of is." - she finally proffered - "We`re about to let them go topside. That naivete will cause them problems, I just know it." Frisk stopped, tugging on Chara`s arm to stop her as well.

"Ok, there`s more to it then that. I know you, Chara. You wouldn`t care about something so easily mitigated. What are you really bothered about?" - she demanded, - "Come on, tell me." Other girl slumped slightly. "...I`m annoyed they`re not working to their potential." - she finally admitted - "I know some of them are genuinely simpletons, but a good lot of them are shooting well below the true potential they have. I can`t help but compare Papyrus to Gaster, and think - there`s the monster who figured out the Core, and what does his son amount to? Spaghetti?!"

Sighing, Frisk stepped closer, and drew Chara in a hug. "...Alright, this is an issue, I admit." - she proffered - "But we can change it. We WILL change that. Baby steps, Chara. Baby steps. As far as brilliance goes, I`m pretty sure you`re all the way up there, with Gaster and Alphys and Sans. I understand how Papyrus can frustrate you. He will come in his own, we just need to give him some worthwhile direction. Remember that for most of his conscious life, he only had Sans around to truly guide him, and Sans is... Sans. He means well, but he`s got his own issues and doesn`t really think things through until he`s put between anvil and hammer usually."

"I know, I know... It`s just... I`ve always been short-tempered. It`s HARD to stay calm and grin when I want to yell at him for not taking it seriously." - Chara finally proffered, pulling back - "I don`t think I can do it without you around to cool me off." Frisk grinned - "Ah, I know what you`re thinking now. It annoys you because you feel disrespected by all those simplistic schemes, no?"

"...I suppose. It does anger me a lot that I could just rip through Snowdin in five minutes flat, and yet have to play all those little... childish games." - Chara muttered softly. "Well, they were designed FOR children, you know. It`s not like anyone here at all expects we`re actually timeline travelers with centuries worth of experience under our belts. Besides Sans, that is." - her counterpart retorted reasonably - "It`s not them dismissing you as a threat, it`s them being genuinely unaware you`re actually a hypercompetent savior of monsterkind." And for that observation, she was finally rewarded with a giggle and a smile.

They crossed the stone maze easily, waving to gobsmacked Papyrus as they did so, prompting him to retreat with promise of "PUZZLE THAT WILL DEFINITELY STOP YOU FROM FURTHER PROGRESS!". Lesser dog have had been petted until the whole area around the post was full of silly snowfigures. "Frisk, now that`s just cruel. You tuckered that one out. Like in, lights out." - Chara snickered - "He actually hid from you in that sentry box just to sleep off all the petting." Frisk stuck her lower lip out petulantly. "I LIKE petting them." - she whined - "Dogs are made to be petted, you know."

"Well, if you continue petting each of them so much, they will lose firmness and revert back to being cats, you know." - Chara retorted - "C`mon, not much further to Snowdin." Both of them stopped and groaned. "Ice puzzle." - Frisk muttered despondently, taking a hold of a loop of wire Chara pulled out of backpack and wrapping it around her waist securely. "Alright, let`s do it." - she grumbled, taking a running start and sliding across the icy surface towards the first floorplate. Much to her delight, Chara was able to anchor her down enough to use the rope as steering, swinging her across the field with ease.

"Well, that was infinity times more tolerable then doing it alone." - she quipped, as both of them made it across the tricky place. They were immediately greated by loud exclamation from Papyrus - "HUMANS! WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS? A ROPE TO DEFEAT THE ICE? HOW INGENIOUS! NOW I CAN SEE WHY YOUR CAPTURE IS OF SUCH HIGH PRIORITY TO THE ROYAL GUARD! AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CAPTURE YOU WITH THE HELP OF THIS UTTERLY INGENIOUS PUZZLE! IT`S BEEN DESIGNED BY DOCTOR ALPHYS! LISTEN AS I EXPLAIN THE RULES!"

He paused, drew a great chestful of air, and continued - "RED TILES ARE IMPASSIBLE! YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM! YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC! THEY WILL ELECTROCUTE YOU! GREEN TILES ARE ALARM TILES! IF YOU STEP ON THEM... YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER! ORANGE-TILES ARE ORANGE-SCENTED. THEY WILL MAKE YOU SMELL DELICIOUS! BLUE TILES ARE WATER TILES. SWIM THROUGH THEM IF YOU LIKE, BUT... IF YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES! THE PIRANHAS WILL BITE YOU. ALSO, IF A BLUE TILE IS NEXT TO A, YELLOW TILE, THE WATER WILL ALSO ZAP YOU! PURPLE TILES ARE SLIPPERY! YOU WILL SLIDE TO THE NEXT TILE! HOWEVER, THE SLIPPERY SOAP... SMELLS LIKE LEMONS! WHICH PIRAHNAS DO NOT LIKE! PURPLE AND BLUE ARE OKAY! FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING. STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE RULES?"

"Yeah, peace of cake." - Chara tossed back lazily - "Turn this thing on, let`s get this over with." Papyrus boomed across the puzzle expanse - "CONFIDENT, AREN`T YOU? VERY WELL THEN, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HAVE TO TURN UP THE RANDOMNESS OF THIS PUZZLE, JUST FOR YOU!" He fiddled with controls, sending puzzle into a frenzy of blinking lights and colors only to have it form a straight corridor, just wide enough for both girls to pass through without issue. Which they quickly did, making skeletons beat a hasty retreat towards the bridge.

Frisk hurried ahead, tossing her stick at the furthest lump of snow, which immediately burst open to reveal a Greater Dog, whom chased after the stick gleefully. The stick had been brought to bemused Chara, who tossed it again, returning the focus of game to Frisk. "Huh, you were right. They did save up the most energetic one for last." - Chara commented lightly as the dog finally fell out of an oversized armor and wiggled on the floor, hindlegs twitching in the air as Frisk pet his belly - "If you don`t mind, I`ll take the next puzzle myself." Frisk`s eyes popped open as she recalled the next problem - "Wait, wait, Chara... Waaaait!"

"Wow, this might actually be a little bit of challenge." - Chara quipped cynically, observing the various implements of harming moving in position around the bridge. Frisk pinched the bridge of her nose. "Chara, can you please stop egging Papyrus on?" - she grumbled - "I`ve never seen that one activating, so..." Chara skipped by her with cheerful - "S`alright, I had!"

Both skeletons and Frisk observed, gobsmacked, as Chara nimbly dodged the spears and yanked the spiked ball chain off the bearing, using it as a flail to deflect the cannonball into the flaming barrel, making the flame in it gutter out as the ball plugged the opening. "Well, well, well... Finally some exercise." - she quipped, advancing past the sleeping dog, swinging the spiky ball around herself as she went.

"GOODNESS GRACIOUS, YOUR BATTLE ABILITIES ARE RIVALING THAT OF UNDYNE HERSELF." - Papyrus commented, retreating at top speed - "I MUST THINK HARD ABOUT THE PROPER STRATEGY TO DEFEAT YOU. JUST YOU WAIT, HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BRING YOU IN! AND, AS A REWARD FOR CATCHING SUCH A CAPABLE AND DEVIOUS HUMAN, UNDYNE WILL SURELY ACCEPT ME INTO ROYAL GUARD! NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH!"

"Chara. We need to go back." - Frisk insisted, as she finally caught up to Chara in the far end of bridge. "...Go back? Whatfor?" - other girl quipped absentmindedly, tossing the spiky ball off the bridge - "C`mon, we`re almost there!" Frisk sighed. "We need to find and undecorate Gyftrot." - she proffered. Chara`s lips thinned, but then she nodded. "C`mon, then. That one is actually fairly reasonable thing to do." - she agreed, crossing the bridge again.

Finding the hapless monster and divesting it of ill-concieved decorations have had been easy enough, but then Chara made a fatal mistake of gifting Nice Cream to the critter. "The door?" - Frisk quipped thoughtfully as deeply thankful Gyftrot led them towards the cave - "I always thought it caved in or something. It never opens." Gyftrot just chuffed.

"I can`t believe it." - she proffered, standing side by side with Chara as the door creaked open slowly. "There ya go." - Gyftrot proffered, prancing towards the exit - "Just be careful there, that Glyde fellow is quite a disagreeable chap, if I do say so." They approached the door curiously. "I take it you never been here either?" - Chara ventured slowly, as she considered the room behind it. Frisk nodded nervously.

"...Really? You made the underground?" - of all the things to find, Chara was expecting the creator of universe the least. Especially, the creator of universe shaped like an annoying dog. Unfortunately, while they were gawking the dog escaped, leaving behind a dog-shaped residue and a bunch of oddities. Sadly, neither the logbook, nor the computer had revealed anything noteworthy, and not for the lack of trying. With girls so engrossed in examining the records, they completely overlooked the sounds of flipping, floating, boasting and finally, the dejected departure in search of more attentive audience.

"I don`t believe it... OK, no, I actually do. The world like this must have been created by mad god. Or mad dog. Whatever." - Chara grumbled, as she snapped the logbook shut and dropped it in it`s place - "It`s a literal record of Bark Bark Bark Bark that somehow makes this whole world exist." Frisk pulled back from computer shakily. "Chara? I think it`s best for our sanity that we turn around, walk out, and never ever speak of this place to anyone ever again." - she proffered softly, rubbing her eyes tiredly - "I`m getting tired just thinking about what we just found out."

The return trip to Snowdin was quiet and thoughtful. At least until they entered the town proper. Greeting and meeting a bunch of monsters quickly took care of somber mood. "...Grillby`s?" - Frisk inquired, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as her stomach growled. Chara would laugh, but she`s been having similar thoughts for the last hour.

Visiting diner yielded dinner, but little else. Oh, the monsters inside were just as talkative as ever, and Frisk immediately went about to pet every single dog again, making much commotion in process, but even all that clamor haven`t attracted Sans` attention. That bothered Chara somewhat, to be honest. Short skeleton was being surprisingly circumspect about showing up. According to Frisk and her own memories, Sans was supposed to pester them all the way through Snowdin Forests. Instead, he only showed up to oversee their interactions with Papyrus and withdrew just as quickly. Wary? Or playing some kind of long game as well? Chara could only wonder.

"EEE, I knew it, I knew it!" - try as she might, Chara had to admit she did look good with bandanna. Better then Frisk, anyway. But maybe that was because Frisk insisted on tying it up as if it were granny`s scarf. "...Fine, I`ll take it." - she grumbled, - "50 G, you say?" Shopkeeper nodded, greatly bemused by the interplay between two humans. "Be sure to visit the inn next door." - she quipped as the sale was finalized - "My sister runs it, you know? It`s pretty late, you should get a room and stay overnight. No good travelling in the dark, especially in the swamps ahead."

"She`s right, you know." - Chara quipped - "Let`s get a room. Papyrus is busy "developing strategies" to capture us, anyways." Her companion paused. "Wait, how do you know?" - she quipped curiously. Chara grinned - "Went ahead and peeked into his window. He`s got a whole production going on, action figures, construction paper, voice acting... you know what he`s like." Frisk paused. Stopped. Grabbed Chara`s arm. "Wait. Wait. Time out. Back up." - she ground - "Just WHEN did you check on him?"

"Oh, when I went to restroom back at Grillby`s. Wanted to be sure he didn`t loose his nerve and run to Undyne. You know, spur of the moment paranoia." - Chara retorted glibly - "So I snuck out of window and climbed on library`s roof to have a look-see. Turns out all is fine, so I went back all quiet-like."

Frisk facepalmed. "You know, even with my... multifaceted experiences, I find your skillset to be a bit disturbing." - she muttered - "Should I assume you can pick locks as well? Or pockets?" Chara giggled. "Now you make me sound like some kind of universal criminal. As for your question, locks yes, pockets no. Between the two of us, you`d be a much better pickpocket then I`d ever hope to be. Simply because the way you carry yourself makes people think you`re a good kid, if nothing else." - she proffered - "And before you ask, no, I didn`t have a burglar career in my experiences. It`s just that anyone reasonably savvy with mechanics won`t find much of problem picking locks. So long as you understand how something works and the limits of what it can do, subverting it to your needs is simply a matter of time and effort."

"I`ll take your word on it." - Frisk riposted, letting go of Chara`s arm - "Core is going to be all you, I think. I mean, you explained things and everything, but I`m still baffled on how it actually works. Oh well, it`s not even tomorrow, I suppose. Let`s go get that room finally, I`m bone-tired." A far-off trombone sounded, followed by indignant shrieking a moment after.

Renting the room was easy. Settling into the room... A little bit more interesting. "One bed." - Frisk observed detachedly - "If I haven`t been here countless times before, I`d call shenanigans." Chara shot her a quick look. "Am I such a bad bedmate?" - she quipped flatly, slipping her sweater off casually. Frisk reddened and turned around.

"...No, you`re good. It`s just that..." - she trailed off, as she tried to sum up her confusion on the topic - "Chara, how are you so comfortable with it? Is it the "usually sharing a body" thing? Or how?" She jerked and stiffened as she felt the arms around her waist, pulling her backwards into light hug. Chara`s breath tickled her ear as the answer was whispered into her ear - "There is that... But don`t assume I`d be fine sharing bed with just anyone. You`re a very, very, very special case, Frisk."

"But why." - she had to know. "Well..." - came the reply, pensive and drawn out - "...I`ve never actually realized how hard it is to explain out loud. To put it very simply, I am attracted to you. You`ve seen me at my absolute worst and still managed to find something redeemable within. Do you find it strange that I`d be attracted to someone so overwhelmingly determined to let me achieve the best I can?" Fingers twitched, running slowly over Frisk`s sides, rubbing motions easing some of the tension she felt. Chara chuckled quietly, her tongue flicking across the ear rim, making Frisk squirm and giggle as she tried to evade the licking.

"I`m well aware I`ve got plenty of competition." - Chara quipped, letting go of other girl - "But I`m determined to put forth my best side. Well, as soon as I figure out which is my best side, that is." Frisk turned around, still blushing, but clearly set on continuing the conversation. "...Chara. I`m going to be blunt. Do you want to date?" - she stated upfront, hands clutching her sweater as she waited for the response.

On the other side, Chara was having some of the problems of her own. "...I, uh... what?" - she finally managed, before her wits finally locked the gears again - "I mean, yes. Yes, I would love it very much to date. But aren`t you being a bit abrupt about it?" Frisk bit her lip. "I remember, OK?" - she stated, looking away from Chara - "Details I`m not good with, feelings are another matter entirely. It`s not a new one. I remember that we had on and off thing for like... hundreds of revolutions. It`s just that this is the very first time we both have a body of our own."

"Ah... Yes, well. That..." - Chara stammered for a moment, - "Well... how about taking it slow? I`m content simply knowing you`re on the same page with this." She stiffened in surprise a moment after, being the recipient of a returning hug from behind. "Oh no you don`t." - Frisk breathed into her ear - "Now that I know what you want, I`m going to put you through your paces, mark my words."

She twisted around, moving so now they were face to face. And close. And... And... Mwah. OK. So. Making out. Yes, alright, that`s... completely fine. Entirely. Very expected. Not too... exciting?... Was that a lavender sweater thrown overhead just now?...


End file.
